The Result and the Way

Egazete Lights of the World, Full Moon;

October 2017

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It’s always the same old refrain :

“Well, if you give up now, what a shame in deed! You will lose all your efforts! What a pity!”

“You spent so much time for this! And you did not manage to finish ? What a waste ! »

“ And what if I fail my exam!? I have been working so hard for it… I will have lost my time »

 

« Lost my time ? »

To lose one’s time, one should first possess it !

Can we both possess time and complain of having no time?

“What a waste ! ”

I worked for nothing, because the Result of my efforts is Not the one I expected

« And what if you give up ?”

So not only I did not get the result, but also… I leave the game! Big waste and pity!

 

These words hold in themselves the enormous importance that we give to the Result, the result ONLY. And that’s precisely how we generally function in our modern world.

However let’s look at this idea with a broader vision :

An action is, no doubt, triggered by a desire or a need to reach an aim, the realization of something.

Nonetheless, we could also consider the aim as the trigger of our action, for the aim will also determine the way towards its realization ; the Route.

 

 

Precisely, what happens “on the Way” towards the aim ?

We all know that billions of things may happen « on the way »… some are predictable, even anticipated, and many others are just unpredictable, totally out of control…

Imagine you are about to start a cruise on a sailboat. You prepared everything, charts, equipment, instruments… You have enough food for the time of your trip etc. Your destination is the aim which has determined your route, the heading etc. And one day, conditions being auspicious, you go.

After a few days, the winds change drastically. You did not anticipate this. But of course you know you have to adjust and change your heading for a while. And suddenly a storm arises, you need to adjust the sails, maybe change your course… One day being in stopover in an island, you meet so nice people that you wish to spend more time with them, visit other places, other islands… Maybe even change your route…

                                                       And why not !?

                                               That’s how life is…

The importance of the Goal is definitely doubtless. But that of the Way is also. There is no aim without a way. And there is no way, without an aim. Both work together, both nourish each other. And taking into account Both the Goal and the Way, we get richer and life becomes more intense.

Because the way represents life in real time. Any kind of surprise may arise, which brings us new data for the rest of our trip; we simply have to adjust our way to these new Real encountered conditions.

Indeed, who could trust a sailor who would keep stubbornly his heading despite the change of wind, only because it was his planned heading ! This is more than obvious, even if we have no knowledge in sailing !

 

Well, life is exactly the same, a big long and fascinating journey full of surprises… Sometimes, we don’t even realize that we adjust our heading permanently because the changes are negligible, and sometimes, life requires from us huge changes, like 180° turn or even cancellation, total re assessment of the situation and maybe giving up of our initial goal…

And again, WHY NOT !?

Why should we keep our initial heading if the wind has changed ? If our goal has become useless… why should we continue towards it? It is indeed far wiser to accept the changes of condition and revise our plans accordingly…

Yet… It is not that easy ! Our egos are generally strongly resisting to that sort of maneuver, because they associate it to failure, weakness, or similar negative judgment. Because that’s how we are conditionned.

 

According to the yogic teaching however, we can say that the goal determines actions and way towards the realization of this goal. Yet behind this, “karmas” are evacuated from our memories all along the way as long as Awareness is present in each and every instant of our lives…And if it happens that karmas are burned before the goal is reached… reaching the goal could becomes useless, obsolete…

That’s how adjustment and adaptability to present & real conditions brought by life are part of the most important qualities that one must cultivate in one’s life to evolve. And the one who easily accepts and realizes those changes in life is, indeed, Wise and forever Fortunate.

 

 Hari Om Tat Sat